Festive Cinco de Mayo at Home Edition 2020

(Gerry Furth-Sides, content at-home party courtesy Tommy Bahama)

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s 1862 victory at the Battle of Puebla over the French Empire. In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle that Cinco de Mayo celebrates continues to be mostly ceremonial, with strutting military parades or battle reenactments.   The city of Puebla marks the event with an arts festival, a festival of local cuisine, and re-enactments of the battle.  Cinco de Mayo is a perfect reason to rerun the Netflix TV show or reread Paco Ignacio Taibo II’s book  that traces Mexico’s revolutionary history from 1854-1867, a period he considers foundational to the country.

In the US  a drinking party with lots of people is the rule. This year with everyone at home, Cinco de Mayo parties require some creative thinking.  One LIVE “Cocktail Club” with Tommy Bahama.  on Cinco de Mayo  features a festive island flare with a Margarita and Guacamole class hosted by lifestyle expert Gretchen Connelie.

 Tommy Bahama Baja Margarita, Blood Orange Margarita, Mango Habanero Margarita, Spicy Kumquat Margarita and Spiked Guacamole star at this party. Gretchen will walk viewers through a simple 6-ingredient guacamole anyone can do.

The secret to the special Tommy Bahama margaritas are freshly squeezed juices and scratch sour mixes.  For the heat, the Mango Habanero Margarita adds a couple drops of Bittermens® Hellfire Habanero Shrub Bitters to the tequila and sour adds spice to the mix that includes mango puree and Orange Curaçao.

For more information visit www.tommybahama.com

The Netflix documentary of it, showing Taibo trace the route with other historians is worth the watch, and is as entertaining as it is informative.

The Battle of Puebla is important in Mexican history as in inspiration for freedom and overcoming the odds for it. This is true despite a second battle that ended differently with the French overtaking Mexico City and Napoleon the III eventually establishing  his second Mexican empire outpost that lasted a few years (to replace the land his uncle sold to Thomas Jefferson in the Louisiana Purchase).   First, although considerably outnumbered in this last stand to take over Mexico City, the ragtag assortment of 4000 Mexican soldiers defeated a much better-equipped, over-confident French army twice the size that had not been defeated for almost 50 years.  Credit goes to a young General Zaragoza who inspired them, calling them, “the best children of Mexico.”

They came equipped with 200,000 rations of food and 8,000 rations of wine!   Second, since the Battle of Puebla, no country in the Americas has been invaded by any other European military force.  And third, even though the French army continued to pour in men and arms for the next few years to overtake Mexico, it did not stop the Mexican Revolution of guerillas,  that came to be known as chinakas, literally meaning “without underwear” and that came to define the common people who fight for freedom, “the best children of Mexico.”

This engaging host is a world-renowned, social activist, historian, professor, journalist, union organizer and author of over 51 books, published in 29 countries and over a dozen languages.